[Accredited Stakeholders Participant]

It’s very interesting that it happened around Christmas/New Year when gov’t agencies were on holidays. Disasters don’t have holidays. If this had been a greater volcanic event on a populated island, who knows what catastrophe could have happened. This highlights the need to have some gov’t staff available at very short notice, eg on call.
Another point of interest is that volcanoes create ash plumes and do have a great influence in responding to the disaster. In this case, plane travel to the site was initially limited. Sea travel was available but a lack of ready and suitable boats was a problem, as well as the distance to travel to the site.
International cooperation was a highlight with the larger nation, NZ, sending experts and financial aid ASAP although it still took weeks to be on-site.
Management was effectively coordinated early after initial contact by local fishermen and all agencies involved were able to provide helpful backup and support.